PPCC fails to get stay on panchayat election process from HC

The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) failed to get stay orders from the Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday on the ongoing panchayat elections process in Punjab on the basis of alleged illegal de-limitation of wards (wardbandi).

However, the vacation bench comprising justices Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Amol Rattan Singh, while issuing notices to the state government, including rural development and panchayats minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, 22 deputy commissioners and the state election commission for April 26, directed the state to file its reply on the issues raised in the petition.

The PPCC has challenged the entire process of wardbandi in Punjab for the upcoming panchayat elections, allegedly done by the ruling SAD-BJP government in an "illegal and secret manner to suit its political interests".